Cord Jefferson

One day before Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large sugary drinks was to go in effect in New York City, New York Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling blocked the restrictive new regulations saying they are "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences," reports the Wall Street Journal.

From the outset, the loopholes in Bloomberg's soda ban were numerous—7-Elevens and supermarkets could continue selling whatever size sodas they wanted, for instance—and criticism for the new law was rife. Still, Bloomberg pressed on, telling reporters that New York City, where more than half of adults are obese or overweight, is "about doing something [about the obesity problem]."

Beginning at midnight tonight, food vendors in the city were going to be forced to stop selling sugary sodas and beverages in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces. But Tingling's decision blocks that, giving legal weight to the loopholes laymen had complained about for months. "The simple reading of the rule leads to the earlier acknowledged uneven enforcement even within a particular city block, much less the city as a whole," read Tingling's ruling ."[T]he loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the state purpose of the rule."